Stumbling in the Dark

In Mexico I had one of the weirdest moments of my life. Our dorm was a series of rooms that you had to walk through to ultimately get out of the building. On the first night I needed to use the restroom in the middle of the night. It was completely black except for a sliver of light three rooms away. I knew I needed to aim for the light to get to the bathroom.

The good news was that a small amount of light was all I needed to get there. However, when I headed back, it was PITCH black. I had some idea of what was in each room and where it was, so I started through the first room. I made it without so much as a stumble. However, the second room was a mystery to me. I made it across the room to the far wall, but couldn’t find the door. I felt the wall, the bunks, something that I couldn’t identify…I felt around for what felt like an eternity, but to no avail. I was stuck.

I decided my best bet was to head back towards the small sliver of light, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do when I got there. Without some light, I simply was not getting back to my bed. I was almost in tears when I got back to the room where the bathroom was located. I sat there for a moment dreaming of the flashlight that was next to my bed merely three rooms away. Mike had given it to me just hours earlier because he had extra. Why hadn’t I just grabbed it in case I needed it? What was my great plan now?

Isn’t life like that? We have been given all we need to live an abundant life in Jesus, but if we don’t carry it with us, we are lost in the dark. We have faith, power, patience, boldness, favor, grace, mercy, and a whole lot more. However, we seem to try to do it in our own strength rather than using God as a light unto our path.

You probably want to know what I did to get back to my bed? Well, I hesitate to tell you that I went through the men’s dorm room. Their side of the maze had windows and connected to my room. The moonlight streaming in was all I needed to arrive safely at my bunk.

The moral of the story: use what has been given to you.